Yin meets yang

Blog Authors:
Valerie Skinner060000VKGS
is part of the IBM developerWorks team, getting to know the real developers who make up the My developerWorks community and exploring the world of social networking. I'm enjoying learning what makes developers tick! I'm very interested in exploring online communities and social media and understanding real world application - how they can help people solve problems and work together.

Every place on the map has its own local culture, its own feel, its own color, its own expected social behavior. Whether you notice it or not, whether it's eccentric or conservative, it's still there.

I'm a native Texan. Where I'm from we have our own quirks that some folks find charming and others find annoying. For example, we have certain gestures we make in traffic. When someone lets us cut in or change lanes, we give a casual little wave in front of the rear view mirror. This is customary. And it makes me feel good every time I do it and every time someone waves at me. It's a little sign that says "Hey, it's all good. No rush. Happy to let you in my friend." Or at least it says that to me, because "I'm from around here". People not from around here might be annoyed at our laissez faire driving style, or surprised at our selection of gestures - or so I'm told.

These ingrained social behaviors color our world. And while destinations on a map have their own unique culture, destinations on the web do too. On Facebook, for instance, people are very casual and open, but only within their own circle of approved friends. On Twitter, things are different - most people are open with everyone. Anyone can follow anyone. It creates a culture that's less intimate, but more egalitarian.

I've been thinking about the kind of culture I'd like to see grow in My developerWorks. I'd like to see an open, friendly, helpful culture, kind of the way I think of my home state :-)

What I hope My developerWorks will become: A place where people take IT seriously, but also have some funA place where people are real, transparent, and open - not artificial, corporate or closedA place where learners and experts cross paths, mix, and mingleA place where people who don't consider themselves to be experts feel just as welcome in the community as the so-called expertsA place where people ask someone to be their colleague if that person shares similar interests or wrote a useful forum post or leads a group they're part of or writes a blog they likeA place where people feel free to comment, join groups, and message each otherA place where information and relationships aren't limited by geography,time zone, industry, or companyA place where knowledge and questions are shared freely and ideas and projects are born

In this week's interview, get to know Byron Kidd, an Australian born software engineer working in Japan since 1996. Initially employed as a web applications developer he branched out into mobile development as it was taking off in Japan with the release of i-mode in 1999. He is currently employed by Acoustic. Inc. as a Senior Software Engineer, primarily developing video streaming solutions for Japans many mobile devices. He's keen to assist foreign developers and businesses who want to understand and enter the Japanese mobile market.

What project are you most proud of ? I take pride in all my projects and don't like to ship anything till I'm 100% satisfied that its the best it can be, much to the frustration of those around me. Rather than the big achievements I'm most proud of little utilities, applications and hacks I've developed over the years for myself and my team to improve the speed and quality of our work.

Tell me about the biggest problem you've solved?How to balance an advancing career with being a husband and father of two. Once you've solved that you've done it all.

What are you currently working on?Having immersed myself in the development of mobile Java applications for Japanese mobile phones from NTT Docomo and Softbank over the past few years I'm currently taking a break to investigate Apples iPhone SDK. While the iPhone still has a tiny market share in Japan its not a platform to be ignored.

Google's first Android phone made its debut in Japan in July and at times when I'm butting heads with Objective-C I think I should have made the decision to roll over my Java skills into Android development instead of tackling a new and foreign way of doing things.

I'm a firm believer of getting on board while the technology is young as the learning curve is a lot less steep when a technology is in its infancy than after it has become established and matured. There is less to learn in the beginning and once you've mastered that you can grow along with the technology. A newcomer to development today faces a wide array of established technologies, languages and frameworks so that simply knowing where to start is a challenge in itself.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use? Japan has some of the coolest gadgets in the world and I love those gadgets but rarely purchase them for myself. Once I get over the wow factor of a new gadget I step back and realize my "want" for he gadget is much greater than my "need" for it. When I first settled in Japan I had a thing for electronic dictionaries but, as my knowledge of the language increased, and I didn't feel the need to carry dictionary everywhere, I went back to a printed as its so much more comfortable to use. (Japanese gadgets aren't renown for their intuitive user interfaces.)

I've owned a stack of bicycling computers (cyclometers) over the years, but have outgrown the need to know every last statistic about my ride. Preferring now to enjoy the ride and listen to my body instead. Recently I've taken up running but have resisted the urge to purchase running related gadgets.

I think as many of the functions various gadgets provided in the past move online all you really needs is a single simple gadget that can access the internet and we all already have this gadget, its your mobile phone.

How do you use developerWorks?I began using, and continue to use, developerWorks for the tutorial articles. I had found myself a comfortable job utilizing the skill set I had developed over the years, never having to step outside my comfort zone, but around me technology continued to advance at an astonishing rate. I was slowly turning into the modern day version of the gray bearded mainframe jockey. "These kids and their Ruby on Rails, in my day we coded CRUD by hand, in the snow, the way God intended, and we enjoyed it." When I finally came to that realization and snapped out of it I discovered IBM developerWorks. The introductory articles on various topics were a perfect size and written to a level of detail that allowed me to sift through the details of a lot of technologies very quickly before determining which ones to focus upon more deeply. As I devoured the content I realized that I should have been setting time aside to read one or two articles per week to keep my finger on the pulse of new and advancing technologies. I still try and peruse a few articles per week often, on topics removed from my specialty to build a well rounded view.

What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?When it comes to websites I show very little loyalty. My RSS reader is full of feeds all grouped into individual topics to the point that I've forgotten the names of most of the sites providing me with information. I now have a much more article based, rather than site based, view of the web.

I use delicious for my online bookmarking, tumblr for simple hassle free blogging, Google reader for my RSS reader, and of course developerWorks to keep up with technology outside of my specific field. As for Twitter .. I still don't get it .. but automatically duplicate my blog posts there for those who do get it.

Email or text messaging? Japanese mobiles have used email since the introduction of i-mode in 1999 and as such I've never been a fan of SMS. When I returned to Australia for a short period I could not get my head around SMS nor the need for SMS to email gateways. I was unable to fathom why you couldn't attach photos to your messages, or why sending an SMS to certain services cost an arm and a leg. The concept of not using email was totally alien to me.

As for the state of the mobile web outside of Japan at the time I was astonished by the sad state it was in, but what has been even more astonishing is the rate at which the west has been catching up over the last 2 years.

I blog about the state of the Japanese mobile internet from a foreign developers point of view on my blog The Gaijin Coder.

This week, get to know Kelly Smith, a blogger on My developerWorks. With over 20 years of experience with the software development lifecycle, plus a wide variety of social networking activity, Kelly has a unique perspective to share. Learn more about Kelly in the interview below, plus:

Kelly's profile on My developerWorksKelly's blog on My developerWorks: Notes from Rational SupportKelly on Twitter What project are you most proud of ?IBM's Hack Day, without a doubt! IBM's Hack Day was started in June 2006, inspired by a blog post I wrote on Blog Central about Yahoo's Hack Day program. Completely grass-roots and unfunded, the rocking bloggers on BlogCentral took the idea and ran with it, taking it global with participation from IBMers all over the world. Hack Day 7 is scheduled for this October, and we are always looking for folks to help run the event or to participate! (HackDay is a one-day competition challenging you to come up with the
most interesting "Hack". "Hack", in this case refers to ability to come
up with a solution to a problem or an interesting idea you've been
thinking about. If you're an IBMer and want to participate, contact Kelly.)

What are you currently working on?Currently, I and my team are working on several initiatives to help our clients help themselves be successful using our products. Rational Client Support is continuing its adoption of Knowledge-Centered Support best practices, and is exploring new venues like Twitter (@RationalSupport) and blogs (Notes from Rational Support) to connect with our clients proactively, and share knowledge.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use? I am a sucker for anything with LEDs ... color-changing LEDs, preferably. :-) I'm also fascinated with the home automation work Andy Stanford-Clark and others are doing. I'm an Apple fan-girl, and I totally puffy heart my macbook, and my iPhone. How do you use developerWorks?I use developerWorks to connect and share with colleagues and clients ... the power of collaboration, community and knowledge-sharing.

Tell me about your experience blogging so far...I've been blogging for several years now. I have a personal blog over at http://kellypuffs.wordpress.com/. I love blogging and connecting with others. I have to say, though, that since the advent of Twitter, I'm having trouble writing anything longer than 140 characters at a shot!

The coolest thing about social networking is...I love how social software has enabled me to widen my personal and professional networks. I have met so many wonderful people both inside and outside of IBM and all over the world through social networking. I can be plugged in to all the latest news and trends in areas I'm interested in. I'm a life-long learner, and I love learning from all the wicked smart folks out there. For me, it's all about the people.

The biggest problem with social networking is...I'm frustrated with the transformation of “social networking” to “social media” to “social media marketing”. The value of social networking goes SO far beyond selling folks products or services. Also, I'm tired of reading about social media and from social media experts on twitter and blogs. It's all too meta. Let's go back to genuine conversations and high-value content.

What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?

This week get to know a new member of My developerWorks in this interview with Brian Benz. He's an XML enthusiast who's also a blogger, author, and entrepreneur. Learn more about Brian in the interview below and you can also find more about him here: Brian's My developerWorks profile - Blog - Twitter

What was your first job? I started work quite young - my first job was at 14 working in a ski shop installing bindings and lots of maintenance work that ski shops don’t do anymore due to product improvements. Is that far enough off topic?

How did you get started in the IT industry? I always had an interest in computers. My first computer was a commodore 64 with a cassette drive. In 1980/81 I developed a few functions on an Apple II using Applesoft basic, but that was just a hobby. My first real paid tech job was in London, UK, in the early 80’s programming and maintaining business functions on IBM System 32, 34 and 38. In my spare time I started automating some tedious manual tasks on what was an unused novelty in the office at the time - an original IBM PC using Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase. The more I worked on the PC, the faster I could do my job, and the more spare time I had to figure out how to automate more tasks – I was hooked!

What are you currently working on? Several client projects, building some XML, Lotus Notes and Data Analytics products, setting up 2 new companies and Web sites (http://www.benztech.com and http://www.datavida.com), creating a new XML format for sharing unstructured data (http://www.udml.org), and working on an update to the XML Programming Bible.

What's the most fun project you've worked on? Definitely creating UDML. It’s nice to work with a clean slate and do something that you think could make life easier for a lot of people.

What are a few of your favorite development tools and why? The absolute best tools I’ve ever worked with are the Altova suite of tools, especially XMLSpy (http://www.altova.com) . Anyone who works with XML, SOA, or even standards-compliant Web content development should try these tools and see why for themselves. Other than that, Eclipse tools are what I work with the most, plus Microsoft Visual Studio, SharePoint Designer, InfoPath, and IBM Lotus Domino Designer.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use? Not a gadget person per se, but I love my iPhone. The apps and music functions let me connect to my music library, friends, social networks, and the Web in ways that I haven’t with other phones. It’s actually changed my life in a few ways, all for the positive.

How do you use developerWorks? Mostly to connect with my fellow developers and share tips and advice. Like most geeks these days, I don’t know everything, but I know where I can find everything quickly. developerWorks is definitely one of the resources I use to learn quickly when I need to.

What are some of your favorite Twitter accounts to follow? It’s a mix of tech, local news, and fun. Aside from @developerworks, I also follow @craignewmark, @davewiner, @forkflylasvegas, @edbrill, @cnnbrk, @WholeFoods, @jowyang, @dsearls, @TechCrunch, @CaesarsPalace, @happn_in_vegas, @xbrlblog

This week, I'm happy to turn the My developerWorks community spotlight onto Tamir Gefen. He's both a technical innovator and entrepreneur as the founder of GoMidjets, offering end-to-end solutions in the CM and ALM field with add-on products for Rational ClearCase.

What are you currently working on?Since founding GoMidjets a year ago I have been totally involved in developing the product and the business. Right now we are adding new features to our three Rational ClearCase add-on products. We've also been busy, updating our service offering to customers using IBM Rational products so we can give them best support and service possible. We're also active in opening up new markets, not to mention looking after and deepening our relationship with our customers and business partners.

What inspires you in your work? First and foremost is the excited feedback I receive from customers and particularly in hearing how we've solved their problems. Just knowing we have simplified and automated processes to make other people work faster and more efficiently, gives me a real kick. I think that giving my clients a better working environment is my main inspiration.

How do you define success?For me, success is making your dream come true and enjoying every minute of it!

What project are you most proud of ?That would be my largest project to date- the building a large and complex CM \ ALM system, from scratch for a major international customer. I led the project from planning to implementation. This system has been up and running for two years, serving a sizeable population of users.

Have you ever invented something?To date, I've invented five add-on products for configuration and change management systems. That's where I started out. Only after I initiated the concepts did I establish Gomidjets, which I' now certain is going to be a leading provider of such add-ons.

How do you use developerWorks?I use developerWorks as a focused network to communicate with professionals from the Gurus to the users. Though developerWorks, I get to hear what people have to say, learn new ideas, get technical information and more. I like to think I don't just gain from it but also contribute. More than anything, I use it to answer questions in Rational ClearCase and ClearQuest forums. I enjoy solving users' problems.

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? ... Are you a YouTuber? ...Are you an Author? .... Do you Tweet? ...I've been a blogger for the last year and a half. It demands lots of effort, but I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts and I find it very enriching. The feedback and comments I receive give me insight into the state of mind of others. I now tweet too - for the last few months. It enables me to write micro-blogging insights, share ideas and help others.

What type of gadgets do you use?Well, to be honest, I'm not your typical gadget kind of guy. I only use my mobile cell phone and laptop for working!

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?That would be Modu, which is claimed to be the world's lightest mobile phone, with a vision of bringing a fundamental change to the dynamics of the personal communication world. For me, that's really cool!